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Fast Facts
Environmental Creek Assessments
Photo Gallery |
| Fast Facts |
| Population |
2000: 3,156
2030: 12,341 |
| Creek Length |
12 miles
|
| Drainage Area |
17 square
miles |
| Drains To |
Colorado
River east of Town Lake |
| Well Known Sites |
Travis County
Expo Center, Bluebonnet Hill Golf Course, Blueberry Elementary
school, Hornsby-Dunlap Elementary School, Lake Walter E. Long
Metropolitan Park (Decker Lake) |
| Land Use |
Residential
Business
Civic
Parks
Roadways
Undeveloped |
16%
3%
1%
20%
5%
44% |
Watershed Facts
- As a reward for James Gilleland’s army
service, he received a bounty certificate for land, which he
later sold to his neighbor, Isaac Decker.
- Decker Creek begins a mile east of Austin
in eastern Travis County and runs southeast for ten miles to
its mouth on Gilleland Creek.
- The creek was dammed in 1967 to form Decker
Lake; the reservoir was renamed the Walter E. Long Lake in 1978;
it is currently used primarily to cool the generators at the
Long Power Plant.
- In response to citizen complaints, investigators
find an average of five pollution spills each year in Decker
Creek; the most common spill type is sewage, followed by petroleum
and sediment.
- Indian grass prairie preserve is located
along Decker Lake maintained by City of Austin preserves system.
- Decker Creek is a typical Blackland Prairie
stream.
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| Creek
Assessments
Environmental
| Index |
Score |
Category |
Notes |
| Overall
Score |
65 |
Good |
Decker ranks 18 out of
46 watersheds in overall quality |
Water
Chemistry |
62 |
Fair |
Water quality is average,
ammonia is high, suspended solids are high |
Sediment
Quality |
93 |
Excellent |
PAHs are very low, herbicides/pesticides
are very low, metals are very low |
| Recreation |
93 |
Excellent |
During dry weather conditions,
bacteria is not a threat |
| Aesthetics |
67 |
Good |
Lots of litter present,
no odor, water is very cloudy |
| Habitat |
56 |
Fair |
Increased sediment deposition,
cover is insufficient, some channel alteration |
| Aquatic
Life |
21 |
Bad |
Benthic macroinvertebrate
community is fair, diatom community is poor |
- Poor aquatic life scores result from habitat
alteration, presence of pollution-intolerant diatom species
suggest healthy community.
- Water pumped from Colorado River used
to fill Decker Lake, and the downstream dam alters the hydrology
of the lower portion of Decker creating marsh like conditions.
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More
How to Help
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| Photo Gallery |
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| Decker Creek at Lindell
Lane |
Decker Creek at Lindell
Lane |
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